Lifting sling



July 7, 1936. F, H S 2,047,140

LIFTING SLING Filed Feb. 1, 1956 3 Shets-Sheet 1 5 121616 .FIGiI.

m 6 9' F. v 9

WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

a Fmdcrick Kf'ildas,

I BY W W July 7, 1936. FILDES 2,047,140

' LIFTING SLING Filed Feb. 1, 1936 3 Sheets-Shet 2 WITNESSES: INVENTO R:

Fredarmk K- Fvldes,

July 7, 1936. F, FILDES 4 2,047,140

LIFTING SLING Filed Feb. 1, 1936 3 Sheets-She'et 5 INVENTOR: Fred/arid: KFiLdas,

7 TTORNEYS.

Patented July 7, 1936 i XIIUNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE LIFTIN G SLING Frederick K, Fildes, Altoona, Pa., assignor to The Pennsylvania. Railroad Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 1, 1936, Serial No. 61,910

IQCIain s. (Cl. 294-67 My invention relates to lifting slings for moving railway containers and demountable truck bodies. The coupling and'uncoupling of liftingslings is a source of much loss of time in moving containers 5 p and truck bodies. It is undesirable to place a workman either on the lifting sling or on the container to facilitate the coupling and uncoupling process. In the first place, such practice is dangerous to the workman and in the second place,

10 x a mans weight will injure many lightly constructed containers andtruck bodies.

Consequently the primary object of my invention is the provision of alifting sling whichmay be coupled and uncoupled with containers-and 15 1 truckbodies without loss of time and without the presence of av workman on the slingor onthe container or truck. body. Another-object is the provision of at lifting sling which to a large extent automatically. guides itself .into place as it is lowered overthecontainer... Another object is the. provision of lifting sling which couples and unoccupies by the simple manipulation ofatrip rope .onpolebyan operator on the ground. Another. object ofmy. invention .is the provision as of a liftingsling whichbecomeslocked into engagement when .coupled with a container or truck body. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from. thefollowingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment of my inven- 30 tion, havingreference to the accompanying drawings. W 7 I Of thedrawings, Fig. I shows a plan view of a lifting sling which is a preferred embodiment of my invention. 35 Fig. II showsa sideview of same.

Fig. III is a fragmentary endviewiof a corner of same,showing a movable hook-engaging link. Fig. IV is a fragmentary end view of a corner of same, showinga fixed hook-engaging link.

49 Fig. V is a fragmentary sideview of a. corner of same, showing a modification of the fixed hookengaging link. V v.

Fig. VI is a fragmentary end view of the subject-matter of Fig; V. V

45 Fig. VII is a fragmentary side view of a corner of the lifting sling, showing a fixed hook-engaging link with a locking device, in the process of engagement, I

Fig. VIII shows a similar view of the subject- 50 matter of Fig. VII with the engagement completed.

Fig. IX shows. a section taken about the lines IX-IX of Fig. VIII.

I. Fig. X is a fragmentary side view of a'corner 55 of the lifting sling, showing a fixed engagement link provided with a modified form of locking device and in the process of engagement.

Fig. XI shows a similar view of the subjectmatter of- Fig. X withthe engagement completed.

Fig. XIIis afragmentary side view of a modified form of movable hook-engaging link andhook guide.

Fig. XIII is a fragmentary end view of same.

Fig. )flVis a fragmentary side view of a modified form of movable hook-engaging link and hook 10 guide Fig. XV is a fragmentary-end view of same.

Fig. XVI isa fragmentary side view of a modified form of movable hook-engaging link, and hook guide, and

Fig; XVII is a fragmentary end view of same.

For the purpose of a detailed description of the preferred embodiment and modified forms of my invention, the lifting sling and modifications shown in the drawings may be separated into the following principal elements: a suspension means I a frame 2, fixed hook-engaging links 3, movable hook-engaging links 4, hook guides 5 and locking devices-6. A demountabletruck body I having hooks 8 is conventionally and partially indicatedto better show the operation of the lifting sling;

The suspension means I is made up of a heavy metal eye it) .to which are fastened four. cable pieces ll, each of which are inturn connected to a corner of theframe 2 by staples 9. The frame 2 is made up of longitudinal members I2 and transverse members I3 forminga usual rectangular frame. The fixed hook-engaging links 3 are tightly secured in place around the tubular 35. section of the longitudinal members I 2 of the frame 2, under staples 9, and in line with the hook guides 5. The hook guides 5 are an integral part of the longitudinal members l2 and are designed with a saddle-like under surface for guid- 0 ing engagement with the tops of the hooks 8.

Each locking device 6 comprises a fulcrum piece I5 attached to'the' longitudinal member I2; an operating lever l6 pivotally attached to the fulcrum piece l5, a locking member I'I pivotally attached to the outer end of the operating lever l6 and extending through openings in the longitudinal member l2 and thehook guide 5, and an operating cord l9 attached to the inner end of the operating lever iii. The locking member I! is enlarged into a locking face 25 at its lower end and this locking face 25 is designed to operate in a'guide 26 formed on the hook guide 5 and the longitudinal member [2 as is shown more clearly in Figs. VII, VIII and IX. The lower edge of the locking face 25 is designed to conform to the crosssectional shape of the undersurface of the hook guide 5. When in the down position, the locking face 25 will be in position to contact with the back of hook 8 to prevent the disengagement of hook 8 and link 3. The locking devices 6 are crossconnected by a rod I4.

The movable hook engaging links 4 are crossconnected by rod 27 which pivotally attaches the two movable links 4 to the frame 2. Integrally attached to one movable link 4 is an operating arm 28 and a gravity arm 29 with a weight 32 by which the movable links 4 are operated, the rod 21 and the two movable links 4 being connected to move as an integral piece. An operating cord 30 is attached to the operating arm 28 so that an operator on the ground can operate the movable links 4. The gravity arm 29 urges the movable links 4 down to the engaged position and the operating arm 28 is used in overcoming the force of the gravity arm 29 in order to swing the movable links t to the disengaged position. Each movable link i has a roller guide 3l where the link 4 engages the hook 8 in order to facilitate engagement by rolling contact on the top end of the hook 8.

In operation, the frame 2 is suspended over a truck body I and gradually lowered until the hook guides 5 straddle the tops of the hooks 8. The operator at this time holds the locking devices ii in the up position and the movable links A. in disengaged position by the operating cord 35. A small lengthwise movement, guided by the hook guides 55, is then given to the sling. As soon as the hooks 8 engage the fixed links 3, the locking members l'l drop and the hooks 8 are locked into engagement with fixed links 3. The release of operating cord 30 allows the movable links 4 to swing down into engagement with hooks 8 under the force of gravity arms 29. The engagement is facilitated by the roller guides 31 on each movable link 4 when the positioning of the sling is not exact because the roller guides 3| will roll on the tops and over the ends of the hooks 8.

Uncoupling is accomplished by lowering the sling until the hooks 8 will clear the fixed links 3 and the movable links 4 will clear the hooks 8. Then the operating cord 36 is pulled, disengaging movable links 4 from hooks 8, and the sling, after lifting the locking devices 6 by pulling cords I9, is moved longitudinally until the fixed links 3 are disengaged from hooks 8. The coupling and v uncoupling of sling and truck body 'i is thus accomplished with speed, efhciency, and without the presence of an operator on either the sling or truck body. The sling is positive in operation; it is simple and inexpensive in structure.

Certain modifications in my sling are shown in the drawings which have incidental advantages. A modified form of locking device 6a is shown in Figs. X and XI. Locking device Ed has an operating lever lBa pivotally attached to a double fulcrum piece [5a, a combination guide and locking member 35 and a link 36 pivotally attached to both the operating lever lfia and the locking member 35. The underside of the combination guide and locking member 35 is concave ,and conforms to the shape of the underside of the hook guide 5a so that a hook 8 will be guided into hook guide 5a from the member 35. To prevent the member 35 from swinging up too far a lug 31 is provided to engage the frame 2 as the member 35 is forced upward. The locking device 6a is operated by an operating cord Isa which is accessible to an operator on the ground.

In Figs. V and VI a hook guide 512 is shown fastened to fixed link 3 instead of to the frame 2.

Figs. X11 and XIII show a modification of the hook guide 50. for use with the movable links do. The hook guide 5a has an extended outside guide surface n) for contacting the outer side of hook 8 and no inside guide surface.

Figs. XIV and XV show a movable link 41) which carries as an integral part, an outside guide surface ll, a top guide surface 42 and an engaging lip 13, all for guiding contact with hook 8. The gravity arm 29 is replaced by a spring 64.

Figs. XVI and XVII snow a movable link and guide modified so that the link 40 carries an outside guide surface 46 and the hook guide 45 is without an outside guide surface. The gravity arm 29 is replaced by a spring 440.

While I have described the preferred embodiment and modifications of my invention in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes may be made and other forms adopted without departing from the spirit or my invent on as defined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A lifting sling having a suspension means, a frame, fixed hook-engaging links attached to one end of the frame, movable hook-engaging links attached to the other end of the frame, and hook guides associated with the hook-engaging links.

z. A lifting sling having a suspension means, a frame, fixed hook-engaging links attached at one end of the frame, movable hook-engaging links attached at the other end of the frame, said movable links have guide rollers, hook guides associated with the hook-engaging links, locking devices associated with the fixed hook-engaging links, means for operating the locking devices from the ground, side hook guides attached to said movable hook-engaging links, and control means for operating the movable links.

3. A lifting sling having a suspension means, a frame, fixed hook-engaging links attached to one end of the frame, and movable hook-engaging links attached to the other end of the frame, said movable hook-engaging links having a control means operable by an operator on the ground.

4. A lifting sling having a suspension means, a frame, fixed hook-engaging links attached to one end of the frame, and movable hook-engaging links attached to the other end of the frame, said movable hook-engaging links having a control means operable by an operator on the ground and a gravity arm.

5. A lifting sling having a suspension means, a frame, fixed hook-engaging links attached to one end of the frame, and movable hook-engaging links attached to the other end of the frame, said movable hook-engaging links having an operating arm for swinging the movable links to the disengaged position and a gravity arm for urging the movable links to the engaged position.

6. A lifting sling having a suspension means, a frame, fixed hook-engaging links attached to one end of the frame, and movable hook-engaging links attached to the other end of the frame, each of said fixed hook-engaging links having associated therewith a locking device for holding 7 ing links attached to the other end of the frame,

a frame, fixed hook-engaging links attached to one end of the frame, and movable hook-engaging links attached to the other end of the frame, said movable hook-engaging links having side hook guides and top hook guides attached thereto.

10. A lifting sling having a suspension means, a frame, fixed hook-engaging links attached to one end of the frame, and movable hook-engaging links attached to the other end of the frame,

said movable hook engaging links having guide 10 rollers.

FREDERICK K. FILDES. 

